DALLAS, TX.- Building upon the success of the first two years of its partnership with the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, and in anticipation of this falls final originally planned exhibition, Diego Velázquez: The Early Court Portraits, the Meadows Museum today announced that it will expand its agreement with the Prado for two additional years, continuing the institutions many initiatives and adding two collaboratively developed exhibitions. The Meadows and the Prado originally announced in 2009 the launch of a three-year partnership that included the loan of three major paintings from the Prado. The first painting, El Grecos Pentecost (1596-1600), was exhibited at the Meadows in fall 2010. Jusepe de Riberas Mary Magdalene (1640-41), the second painting, was paired with three additional loans of Ribera works from other collections, in a larger exhibition that took place in fall 2011. The collaboration also included interdisciplinary research at Southern Methodist University (SMU), an unprecedented internship exchange between the two museums, and a range of public programs, all of which will continue for the next two years under the expanded partnership.

After frequent visits to Madrid in the 1950s, Meadows Museum founder Algur H. Meadows had a vision to establish a Prado on the Prairie, and built an incredible collection of Spanish art that forms the foundation of the museum today, said Mark A. Roglán, Director of the Meadows Museum, Over the last two years, our partnership with the Prado has been another major step in realizing his aspiration. The ongoing exchange of ideas, people, and artworks that it has produced made it clear to our institution and the Prado that our alliance should continue and become more ambitious.

Diego Velázquez: The Early Court Portraits, on view at the Meadows Museum from September 16, 2012  January 13, 2013, has as its centerpiece the portrait of Philip IV from the Prado. The exhibition will be guest curated by Dr. Javier Portús, Head of the Department of Spanish Painting (pre-1700) at the Prado, and will include paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as the Meadows own portrait of Philip IV.

Under the expanded partnership, the Meadows and the Prado will work together to mount two additional exhibitions that will be held in both Madrid and Dallas. Impressions of Europe: 19th-Century Vistas by Martín Rico, (Madrid, October 12, 2012 - February 10, 2013; Dallas, March 10 - July 7, 2013) will be the first-ever monographic exhibition on the work of Martín Rico y Ortega, one of the most important artists of late-19th-century Spain and a pioneer in landscape painting. Ricos work enjoyed wide international recognition and exposure during his lifetime, particularly in the United States; some of the greatest American collectors of that period, including Henry Clay Frick, Henry Walters, and William H. Stewart were his admirers. The exhibition will examine each period of the artists career, from his earliest paintings of the mountainous countryside outside of Madrid to the glorious Venetian canals and Parisian vistas he painted in his later years.

In summer 2014 an exhibition featuring an important group of Spanish drawings from the Kunsthalle of Hamburg, Germany will be first presented at the Meadows Museum and then travel to the Prado to be exhibited there (October 2014January 2015). The Kunsthalle has one of the most significant collections of Spanish drawings anywhere, including masterpieces by Murillo and Goya. These additional partnership exhibitions will again be accompanied by bilingual exhibition catalogues and academic symposia.

Miguel Zugaza, Director of the Prado, said, "I am delighted with how the partnership with the Meadows is developing, bringing great works of art to Dallas and to Madrid, and involving collaborations at both academic and curatorial level. I look forward to this new phase in the friendship between the Prado and the Meadows."